Arthur Raymond Felce

1919 - 2013

Arthur Raymond Felce
6/15/1919 - 10/16/2013


"Ray" Felce, a long time resident of Meadow Vista passed away quietly after a brief illness at age 94.
Ray was a native of Coventry, Warwickshire, England and immigrated to the United States via Canada as an infant with his parents, Reginald and Isabella Felce. He spent a brief time in Ohio, but settled in Los Angeles in 1922. In 1924 a younger brother, Dave was born. In the Great Depression they lived two years in Ridgecrest where Ray attended a two room school and learned to ride horses, milk cows and drive a car. When conditions improved for their dad they returned to L.A where Ray graduated from Manual Arts High School in 1937 where he majored in shop and photography. Ray followed in his father's footsteps and became a machinist for Lockheed Aircraft which earned him a draft deferment when World War II broke out. In 1943 he entered the Army Air Corps and trained as a reconnaissance photographer studying motion picture technology under Captain Ronald Reagan. Ray was sent to the China Burma India theater of the war and experienced many adventures, including flying over the Himalayas. At the end of the war he returned to L.A. and joined his parents who had moved to Fallbrook. Through mutual friends he met his future wife Marg, whom he courted dancing to the Big Bands. They were married in Oceanside, Calif.
They lived in various communities in the Los Angeles area where Ray worked as a machinist inspector and built two homes while raising a family. In 1957 they came north to Placer County with Aerojet and settled in Meadow Vista. When Aerojet downsized, Ray began working for Placer County Public Works where he remained until retirement. Never one to be idle, he obtained a General Contractor's license and began building and remodeling homes. In his later years he worked as a security guard for Bohemia Lumber. Ray and Marg loved traveling to visit family and friends throughout the West and Canada. He also enjoyed yard work and could be seen raking pine needles off the roof of his home up to age 90 and driving his pick up till age 92. When his beloved wife, Marg, passed in August he lost his better half. They would have been married 67 years October 20, 2013.
Ray was a great example to his family of hard work, loyalty to family, courage of convictions and always having a "can do" attitude.
Ray was preceded in death by his parents, brother, beloved wife and one grandson. He is survived by his sister-in-law, Joyce Felce of Grass Valley; daughter, Sandy (Daniel) Blakley of Provo, Utah; son, Doug Felce of Colfax; son, Brad (Melanie) Felce of Loomis; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Ray will be interred in the New Auburn Cemetery. A grave side service will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, October 24, 2013.